It’s Sunday, April 6th, and its time to take a look at the top (or best) Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 apps available right now in the respective app stores. Let’s see which of your favorite apps are at the top of the lists this week!
Currently, the Windows Store has 153,672 apps available worldwide. The week prior, there were 152,301 apps available. The top-five free apps available in the United States are FIFA 14, Facebook, Skype, Netflix, and Google Search. The top-five paid apps are Halo Spartan Assault, Wifi Passwords, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, MindSticks, and FIFA 2014 World Cup.
The Windows Phone Store, on the other hand, has over 250,000 apps available. During Build 2014, we learned that both the Window Store and Windows Phone Store have reached 400,000 apps combined. The top-five free apps available in the United States are Messenger, Nokia Creative Studio, Pandora, Facebook, and Office Lens. The top-five paid apps are toib, Power Tools, Movie Box, Flashlight+, and Metrotube. Microsoft revealed during the Build 2014 event that almost 500 apps are being added daily to the Windows Phone Store, so it seems it’s slowly moving in the right direction, but it still has a lot of ground to cover to come close to Android and iOS.
Let’s take a look at some of these apps that have made it to the top of the charts this week.
FIFA 14 (free) – After much success on Windows Phone, the insanely popular soccer game FIFA 14 made its debut in the Windows Store late-March. The game offers excellent gaming experience, with Xbox Live integration and new touch controls to let you feel the excitement of a pass you make. Fifa 14 features 34 leagues, over 600 licensed teams, and more than 16,000 players. You can buy and sell players, create your own fantasy league and earn coins which can be used to purchase new players. If you have some extra bucks lying around, you can purchase player packs from within the game as well.
Here are the key features of this game:
- Experience authentic football with real players, real teams, and real leagues
- Feel the excitement of every pass, strike, and tackle with new touch controls
- live every moment of real-world football mastery with EA SPORTS™ Football Club Match Day
- listen to commentaries in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish
- Create a squad of international superstars with Ultimate Team
- Upgrade your game to unlock three extra modes: Manager, Tournament, and Kick Off
Power Tools ($0.99) – This paid app is available for Windows Phone 8 and offers a flashlight, compass, and a set of tools to measure sound, vibrations, lengths, angles, and more. “Power Tools is a collection of smart tools and measuring instruments. All tools can be pinned to the Start screen for quick access,” the app description reads. The app has over 300 reviews, with the majority of reviews being five stars. Here are the key features of the app:
- Torch / Flashlight
- Vibration and shock meter
- Sound meter (decibel meter)
- Compass (magnetometer required)
- Ruler (pre-calibrated for most devices)
- Incline meter with integrated camera view
- Spirit Level meter to measure the angle of surfaces
Metrotube ($0.99) – This app for Windows Phone 8 is a beautifully designed YouTube app. With MetroTube, you can enjoy your YouTube experience with a modern, simple, and organized interface. The app has been quite popular, with over 11,000 reviews. Recently, the app was updated to version 4.1.1.0.
Do you use any of these top apps? Let everyone know in the comments below.
In a related note, During Build 2014, Microsoft unveiled a brand new Windows Store design, which focuses on improving navigation and making it easier to find apps. The Windows Store also features a new persistent green bar at the top, giving you quick access to various Windows Store sections. You can read all about the new interface here.
Further reading: Microsoft, Windows 8.1, Windows Phone
